


Choices

by GingerEnvy



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), avengers MCU
Genre: F/M, Loki get's the shit beaten out of her, Memory Loss, Serious mental trauma, Unplanned Pregnancy, odd happenings in the Avengers Tower, pretty intense 'punishment'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 05:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GingerEnvy/pseuds/GingerEnvy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki discovers he is pregnant, but he has no recollection of it happening, it could only have occurred during his short time on Midgard. Now, he has to find the father because he has no other options. Eventual FrostHawk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Choices

**Author's Note:**

> EDITED: 9/24/2014

He was given a choice.  
For Loki it was never any choice at all.

He sat at the table in the Tower, the Avengers nearly screaming at each other over this, he just sighed. He really honestly just wanted to take a nap.  
"He is an evil mastermind! How do we know this isn't a trick?!" Tony demanded, and Loki snorted, Evil Mastermind indeed.  
"It is no lie, Man of Iron, Eir, the head healer, looked for herself, it is indeed true," Thor said gravely, giving Tony the evil eye for his name calling.  
"But...well...it still...Loki is...you know...a man," Steve said, he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea. Loki sighed again, couldn't he just take a bath or something while they squabbled? How had be been beaten by them again? Oh right, he'd sabotaged himself. Mind you, he'd had a plan to carry out after that, but things had sort of...gotten in the way of that. Unfortunate, it had been a really good plan.  
"Loki is a Jotun, and a shapeshifter, he is what he wishes to be," Thor replied, and Loki stared down at his nails, they were dirty still, he really did need a bath.  
"What I do not understand is how he doesn't know whose it is," Natasha said, staring down Loki who was paying her no more mind than any of the others.  
"I...do not..." Thor stumbled and looked at his brother for assistance, Loki sighed and sat up, tapping his fingers on the table.  
"There is much I do not recall from my time here, some moments are entirely blue, I was conscious but had no idea as to what I was doing and on a few occasions I was blacked out, anything could have happened in those times," he replied, "Obviously something did."  
"What are you saying?" Steve frowned, "You weren't in control of yourself?" he asked, eyes widening, because that would mean-  
"Do not mistake anything, Captain, I had every intention of taking over your world," he said easily, then he stood, "Now if you do not mind I will-"  
"No you didn't," everyone paused because Clint hadn't spoken a word the entire time Loki had been there, "You made sure Selvig sabotaged you, you planted it in his head...I know because you had it in mine first."  
Loki stared at Clint for a full minute before he cocked his head to the side, "How do you know it was not already in your own mind?" he asked, "No, what good would failure do me, Agent Barton? None. Now if you will excuse me, I wish to bathe."  
The excuse was weak and Loki knew it, but he was honestly tired and just wanted to bathe and sleep. This was not what he wanted, to be with the Avengers in their new 'mission', foolish. But he had little choice, as long as things did not end...badly, he would cooperate, he would, at this point, do nearly anything.  
He placed his hand over his belly after leaving the room and sighed, he couldn't even remember it happening, but happen it did, there was nothing left to do but find the other responsible.  
Mission: Find Loki's Baby Daddy.  
"Tony we are not calling it that."  
"Spoil sport."

~  
Loki nearly moaned as he slipped into the water, it was warm, not hot, he found he couldn't handle hot anymore, pity really, as he used to enjoy the natural hot springs on Alfheim.  
"Brother..." Thor said through the door and Loki gave a muted groan, sinking into the water up to his chin.  
"Go away," he growled, there was a loud sigh on the other side, but Thor did in fact go away. For once.  
Loki let out a breath, it's not like he wasn't trying to remember what happened, he was. But it was hard, that time was not actually something he enjoyed recalling.  
He could recall many times where many of his mortal soldiers were around, but not once where he actually did anything with them. That didn't help.  
He snorted, well so much for this, how the hell was he supposed to find the stupid mortal now?  
"Brother! I just recalled Poptarts! There are strange and wonderful things I insist I show you!" Thor burst through the bathroom door, obviously having forgotten Loki had told him to fuck off.  
Loki sunk into the water, hoping he may just drown.  
~  
"Well, what do you remember?"  
"I do believe I already told you, Captain, no amount of asking or rephrasing the question will change that."  
"Now, now kids, play nice. How about we do a brain scan?"  
"How will that help?" Steve asked.  
"No." Loki said almost right over Steve.  
"Come on, Baby Mama, don't be like that, we can knock some sense back into that poor fried head of yours."  
"Stark, I swear-"  
"We could just do a paternity test," All eyes moved to Bruce, who sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  
"What is a...'paternity test'?" Loki asked, frowning, he obviously didn't trust Bruce, but whatever got Stark to shut up.  
"It will tell us who the father is, we just would need to take a sample of DNA," Bruce said, and Tony pouted.  
"That's the easy way, Brucey!" Tony said, "Besides, Princess might get upset if we start poking him in the stomach with needles." Loki paled.  
"You would what?!" he demanded, Bruce gave Tony an unimpressed look.  
"It wouldn't hurt, Loki, women here do it all the time, and ultrasounds, those let us see inside, tell us what sex the baby is, and if it's healthy," Bruce said calmly.  
Loki was still frowning but did not seem as hostile, "How...does it work?" he asked slowly, and Bruce gestured him over and held up a StarkPad, "I'll show you, there are videos," he said, Loki blinked, "Ah...visual recordings of the event," he explained.  
"Ah," he murmured, and then came over to Bruce to watch the 'videos', Loki didn't stand that close to Bruce however.  
Tony frowned, "That's no fun...I wanted to scan him...find a way to block magic," he pouted.  
"Tony...he doesn't have any magic right now," Steve said, "He's more helpless than you are."  
"I highly doubt that," Tony snorted, "He was trained to be a warrior the moment he could clench his tiny little viking-prince-from-another-world fist."  
Steve rolled his eyes, "What can he really do?"   
"Do not be so quick to underestimate me, Captain," Tony and Steve's heads whipped over to Loki who wasn't even looking at them, still clear on the other side of the room, Bruce looked up at Loki in confusion, he hadn't heard the two speaking. Loki had.  
"Stark is correct in thinking I have been trained since childhood, for centuries, I am more than capable of killing one of you without the aid of my magic, mortals, as stubborn as you come, still you are fragile, save perhaps for Dr. Banner."  
"I missed something," Bruce muttered. Loki shrugged and turned back to the videos.  
"I see this seems to be the norm...but I would prefer to try and find the father my way," Loki said turning around.  
"But you don't have any magic, and you're on a deadline," Tony pointed out, not even flinching when Loki sent him a death glare.  
"Loki...if you really do need to find him...let us help you, then you can use the rest of your time...figuring out what to do, alright? We really are trying to help, despite Tony's lacking tact," Steve said softly.  
"Hey!"   
"He lacks far more than tact, I would think," Loki said.  
"People skills, humility, humanity-"  
"HEY!"  
"A volume control," Bruce said.  
"Bruuuuce! You're supposed to be on my side!" Tony whined.  
"Maturity," the doctor added and Loki couldn't help but grin.  
"You forget self preservation instincts as well," Loki added and Bruce snorted.  
"Good call," he said smiling slightly. Steve tried and failed to hide a grin.  
"What is this?! Turn on Tony day?!" Tony wailed, "Reindeer Games! Stop making friends with my friends, it's not fair!"  
Loki rolled his eyes, "I will leave you now...I find myself, hungry...but...I will consider your proposal," he nodded at Bruce and Steve, smirked infuriatingly at Tony and then left.  
"That went rather well, I would think," Steve said and Tony glared at him. Bruce could only chuckle.  
~  
Loki stopped at the door to the kitchen, he could hear voices.  
"...not like it's my fault..."  
"...know that, Clint...But you have to work through this..."  
"I don't want to! He shouldn't even be here! Too damn bad he got himself knocked up! He's a fucking psycho! Any kid of his would be better off dead!"  
"Clint, that-"  
"I don't care, Natasha! H-he- He was in my head! It was the worst thing I could ever-"  
He was cut off because of the loud bang as the door was kicked open, Loki strode in as if he hadn't just overheard the conversation, "Oh, excuse me, I was unaware others were in here," he said, his voice cool and even.  
"What do you want?" Clint asked through gritted teeth.  
"This is a kitchen is it not? What would you expect I would want in such a place?" he replied easily.  
 "Well then get it and get out," he said eyes narrowing further, Loki pursed his lips at him.  
"You know what I do not understand-"  
"I really don't care."  
"I do not understand why you- of all people- would say what you did before your fellow Avengers? To prove the innocence that you yourself seem to be doubting? Or perhaps to discredit me? When only in doing so would make me look like the victim and I assure you, I am very much not," he said.  
And then before the other man could reply, his eyes flashed and he took a step closer to Clint, "As for you, Agent Barton, the moment you make such comments about my child, you will find yourself in no position to say anything, any action against it and you will be in much more peril than you were while under the Tesseract's influence, do I make myself clear?"  
Clint was surprised at first before he managed to cover his surprise with anger, "And what the hell do you care about a half mortal unborn kid? You're a monster, remember?"  
"There is not a day that goes by I do not forget. But a monster I will remain, I have no care of your opinion of me, I am here for my child and that is all, so do well to remember that!" He snapped, he grabbed an apple and then whipped around, leaving with a huff.  
"He doesn't really care...he doesn't know how..."  
Loki kept walking, he didn't want his anger to rule him, for this one moment in his life, he had to control his emotions for another's sake.  
~  
Loki had managed to figure out how to work a StarkPad, and was going through the files of all of the known men who had been involved in the invasion of New York, not a single one of them seemed to bring forth any memories.  
He groaned and flopped back on the bed he'd stolen from Thor, this task was impossible without the aid of his magic, he would have to allow himself to be helped by the mortals, he did not look forward to it.  
But eventually he emerged from the bedroom, he went to go find Banner, and with his head high he looked at him, "I will accept your...paternity test, Dr. Banner," he said and the man blinked at him.  
"Ah...alright, we'll do it tomorrow," he replied, Loki nodded and turned to leave.  
"Brother, you have not yet eaten today," Thor said and Loki turned and arched a brow at him.  
"I have not," he agreed and then started walking away again.  
"Why not? There is plenty of food," Thor was frowning as he gestured to the table.  
"Oh yes, but not for me, I think, I would not put it past any one of your friends to poison me at the first chance they got, I am quite sure Miss Romanov has poison on her at all times, I will not risk such a thing in my food," he said as he kept walking.  
"Huh, he doesn't trust us, I'm almost hurt," Tony drawled as he took a sip of coffee and some kind of alcohol, "Come on, Princess, we're not going to poison you, just eat something, don't punish the kid because you're paranoid."  
Loki glowered at him, "Excuse me for not trusting those who have had every intention of killing me in the past," he snapped.  
"To be fair...you started it..." Steve grumbled into his food, Loki gave him a look.  
"Yes, the next time I am coerced into trying to claim kinghood over this miserable rock I will think better of it," he replied back sarcastically, he stepped over to Thor, grabbed his refilled plate of food and then marched off, at least he knew they would not poison him if he ate Thor's food.  
He went back to the room and ate all of it, he was starving, he hadn't eaten since the day before, he was paranoid and he would never admit it, but Stark was right he wasn't eating because of it and it could harm his child.  
He sighed and placed his head in his hands, closing his eyes. He hated this, he truly did, he would be so much better off rotting away on Asgard than this.  
But this was the fate he had been handed, he could do naught but make the best of it. Even if it really really sucked.  
~  
The next day Banner took him down to his lab, it seemed to have a lot more medical equipment than to be expected.  
But the man had Loki sit down and made it quick, he took some blood first, that was easy.   
"Do you know how far along you are..? I mean...I guess you wouldn't be more than six weeks huh?" Banner frowned, "These usually aren't done until about fifteen weeks..."  
"I do not have time to waste simply so you can do your test, Doctor, do it now," he said narrowing his eyes.  
"It could harm the baby," Banner said more softly, he could see the almost imperceptible movement of strain on Loki's face, he did care, he just did not show it.  
He sighed, "Do it...without my magic there is no other way...and we will not know if there will be travel and more time required once we do find out...I do not have time to wait."  
Banner looked at him for awhile, it was no mystery why Loki wanted this done, Thor had spewed the facts almost the moment they made it through the doors to the tower.  
Odin had allowed Loki to come back to Midgard to look for the child's father, he had three months. If the father was not found then the child's life was forfeit and well Loki did not want to think about it.  
He had to find the father, because he was not going to lose another child.   
"Alright," Bruce said with sad resignation. He had seen mothers go to the end of earth and back for their child, it appeared that Loki was the same in a way.  
The procedure was described as 'invasive', it took most of Loki's control not to stab Banner with his own instruments in the eye. He had to get the sample some how, and Tony was only trying to psyche Loki out with the whole 'needle in the gut' thing, it was really more 'cold instrument where nothing like that is supposed to go' that got to him.  
Loki was more than happy to leave the cold room and Banner to his work once he was done, he did not need to be prodded any longer.   
Now he had no choice but it wait, and it was agony.  
~  
"It should be a few days before we get any results, we had no idea you'd recruited so many people," Tony said looking a little amazed, Loki hummed.  
"You would have Agent Barton to thank for that, Stark," that earned him a glare from the aforementioned agent. "He knew quite a few organizations that wished to get a one up on SHIELD."  
"To be fair, we have screwed over a lot of people," Natasha said, obviously trying to make Clint feel better, but the man was crouched over his food and still glaring at Loki.  
"Oh you sound like such a friendly bunch," Loki murmured, picking food off of Thor's plate. At this point the blond didn't care, he just wanted to make sure his brother ate.  
"You would know all about that wouldn't you?" Tony asked back, tossing a grape in his mouth.  
"I suppose I would, yes." Loki mused dryly, "Rare has my company in life ever been friendly, so far has it gotten me in life too."  
"Brother..." Thor muttered and Loki ignored him.  
"Oh yes, I do recall that time when I went to the Dwarves to attempt to make gifts for my family, and instead of a fair price they demanded my head in compensation," he hummed, almost as if it were a fond memory.  
"Well...you did make a bet with one of them right?" Tony asked, he had actually read some of the myths, "Then you had to sabotage him, right?"  
"Not quite," Loki pursed his lips, "I discovered he had made the deal because another member of court had asked him to and gave him the ideas for other gifts that he thought would be received better, but-"  
"Then you got angry and decided there was no way you could possibly let him win and sabotaged him that way," Thor explained and Loki jammed his heel into Thor's toes who yelped.  
"Oh so the whole anger issue has been around for awhile, huh?" Tony laughed, Loki gave him a blank look.  
"If that is all, I am going to go back to bed," he said standing up, how he'd been convinced to come and eat with them, he had no idea, but it would not be happening again.  
"Sir?" JARVIS spoke up and Loki stopped.  
"Yeah?" Tony replied.  
"Sir, it appears the results have come in for Mr. Odinson's-" Loki hissed at that, but the AI continued, "-paternity test."  
"That was fast, and?" he asked arching a brow.  
"And Dr. Banner has run the test three times, he appears very flustered," the AI commented, Tony frowned.  
"Flustered? Flustered how?"  
"By the results sir, he is coming up now to share them," the AI said just as the elevator dinged and Bruce walked in, his hair messy from a many times having fingers run through it.  
"So Brucey, whatdya got?" Tony asked trying to sound jovial, but everyone else was silent. Loki's eyes were narrowed at the scientist.  
"Well...um..." he started and sighed, "I've got them, but no one's going to like them."  
"Just give me the results, Banner! I have hardly the time to give you for pointless prattle!" Loki snapped, Bruce frowned at him.  
"It's Hawkeye," he deadpanned, everyone stared, "The father, it's Clint."  
That earned him better reactions, Clint choked on the bite of food in his mouth, Loki paled.  
"Do it again!" he demanded and Bruce shook his head, Loki growled.  
"I ran it three time, the father was Clint Barton every time, I'm sorry," he added quietly as if it would help. Loki looked over to Clint who was wide eyed.  
"Oh hell no! I'm not gay! I don't like guys! That never would have happened!" Clint exclaimed.  
"Loki is a shapeshifter, Clint..." Steve said quietly, because apparently people needed reminding.  
"That is-...shit..." he paled as well, "Dammit..." he muttered and Loki stepped towards him.  
"What do you remember?" he demanded, and that earned him another heated glare. Loki assumed he did not like the fact that it was ordered of him. Loki didn't care, he only arched a brow, waiting.  
"It's...not exactly clear..." he rubbed at his face, "One of the other guys brought some alcohol..one night...and..."  
"What?" Loki nearly squeaked, "Alcohol?! What kind of operation did they-"  
"Dude, you drank so much," Clint said and Loki flushed, that didn't really seem like something he would do.  
"How odd," Thor said, "Loki has never been one for drink as he has never been able to handle mu-OOF!" Loki elbowed him in the head.  
"So Loki is a lightweight," Tony grinned, "Duly noted."  
"Do recall he is pregnant at the moment, Tony," Bruce said and Tony's face dropped.  
"Damn..." he muttered with a pout.  
"The fact that I drank the ales does not explain this," he waved his hand at his gut, Clint sighed running a hand through his hair.  
"We...um...might've had a drinking contest..." he said and it looked like Loki was putting all of his control into not putting his face in his hand.  
"But that does not..." he said once he'd gotten over it, Clint frowned, he wasn't used to trying to remember these things, he tried to keep them locked away.  
"Um...I think...I may have dared you...to turn into a woman...?" he bit his lip, "Oh...no wait...you were bragging you could and then I dared you."  
"Lovely, and then you threw yourself at me?" he asked and Clint frowned.  
"No, you started flirting," he said.  
"And Clint can't turn down a flirtatious woman," Natasha said, but her lip was twitching, she was amused.  
"Brother always did get very friendly when he was drunk..." Thor mused, Loki glared death at him.  
"So who won the drinking contest?" Tony asked cheerfully, Loki and Clint glared at him this time.  
"No one," Loki said and then turned around, "If you will excuse me."  
He was able to get out of there fast and head back to the room he'd stolen from Thor.  
Well, this was lovely, he'd found the father, and he thought the child was better off dead already.  
~  
Loki lasted about about five days before he knew he needed to go find Barton. There would be things they needed to discuss, things that Loki hadn't mentioned before and had prevented Thor from spewing out.  
He finally stepped out of the room he'd not been hiding in per say just ...using to avoid stress, yes.   
He sighed, now he had to actually find the archer, he had no idea where he'd be, well he would check the kitchen first, mortals needed to eat all the time it seemed.  
"He's in the range," Loki turned and just managed not to jump, Romanov was behind him, of course she was the only one who could sneak up on him like that.  
Loki pursed his lips but then nodded, he turned to go to the range, "Just don't get him too worked up!" Romanov called after him, and Loki sighed. That was almost asking for too much.  
With the help of the talking ceiling Loki made it to the range with ease, he stepped in and looked wide eyed at the targets, they were stuffed with arrows, looking much like an overstuffed pincushion, he was pretty sure that wasn't normal.  
Barton was about twenty feet from where the line was where the range started with the targets, and the targets were about two hundred yards from the line. 620 feet. It really was quite impressive. But Loki knew he could shoot farther, he just didn't have enough space. He let loose the arrow, it flew with 100% accuracy, straight to the center, going through another that had been there previously.   
He nocked another arrow, arm pulling back, the muscles in his arms rippling, his stance was strained, showing just how stressed he really was, Loki knew when he wasn't he was relaxed and not nearly as stiff.  
He scrapped his foot against the ground, Barton swiveled around arrow drawn back, he stared Loki down for a full minute. Loki could see it in his eyes, the desire to let it go. He could see it, but the small flicker of his eyes down to Loki's stomach, and then he relaxed the bow.  
"We need to talk," Loki said, he looked at him for a moment, and Clint looked to be on the verge of arguing, but finally he sighed and nodded, he put away his bow and arrows, then pressed a button on the side of the range, robots started to retrieve the arrows in the targets, it would throw out the broken ones and put away the still usable ones.  
Clint started walking out, and Loki frowned but followed after him, he headed to the kitchen, thankfully no one else was there. Clint went to the sink and grabbed a glass of water, he downed the whole thing before getting another and drinking that one more slowly. Finally he turned to look at Loki and crossed his arms.  
"You have a decision to make, and I will not have you make it now, you have a little less than two months, but I will need one," Loki said, seeing no point beating around the bush.  
Clint frowned, he obviously wasn't expecting that, "What decision?"  
"Whether or not you wish to keep your child," Loki said bluntly, "Nothing I will say has any say in the matter, getting here to find the father was the only choice I had to give the child a chance, the rest is up to you."  
"Wh-what?" Clint blinked, Loki's eyes narrowed slightly.   
"Many share your opinion in thinking this child is better off dead, including the King of Asgard, I was given this small chance I am sure on the hope that you would not want the child so he could take it from me," the god said, scowling.  
Clint was wide eyed, he was most certainly completely unprepared for this talk."B-but...why?"  
"Because my children have always been considered monsters, Agent Barton, monsters begat monsters. Every child I have ever sired has been taken from me either to be locked away, tossed away, sent away...or killed to teach me a lesson. No lesson can be taught by killing something that has done nothing wrong," gently he set his hand on his still flat stomach.  
"However I have only ever birthed one, and that child is now the stead to the King of Asgard, I would rather this child be raised as a mortal than be given to the mercies of Odin's hand. And just this once...perhaps I could give a child a normal life if they are away from him."  
"...I...well...I just..." Clint had no idea what to say he could only gape.  
"As I said, you have time to decide, this is not something to be taken lightly, do not think there is only one way out, think of your options and then tell me what you have decided."  
"I...yeah...okay..." he muttered, and Loki nodded and made to leave, "Just tell me one thing," Loki stopped, "Why do you care?"  
Loki was silent, "I have always cared for my children Agent Barton, and that is, perhaps, why they are so often used against me."   
With that he left, leaving Clint to the decision of a literal lifetime. He really had no idea what he was going to do, he needed a drink. Or ten.  
~  
Loki was for the most part done with his task, he could do or say nothing else to Barton so instead, he read. He was surprised to find that Stark did in fact have a full library that he intended to make use of.   
Thor occasionally came to him to try and 'talk' but Loki had a bad habit of throwing books at his head, he stopped coming for a short while, but then returned with food. Loki would have thrown more books, had he not been so hungry, so he decided to just take advantage of the food he didn't have to go get himself.  
He wasn't surprised when about a month after his conversation with him, Hawkeye sought him out.  
"Okay if I say yes, what happens?" he demanded his arms crossed and his eyebrows drawn together.  
"Then you keep the child," Loki said, he was curled up on the chair in the library a book in his lap, he looked positively domestic.  
"That's it?" Clint's eyebrows turned down further.  
"Of course that is not it, Mr. Barton. after a child is born you must raise it, did you think the birth would be all, that this decision would not affect the rest of your life? Why do you think I am giving you so much time to make the decision in the first place?" Loki frowned.  
"Wait...so....so I would keep it, but it's yours too!" he was looking a little frantic now.  
"In case you have forgotten if it were not for this child I would be sitting in a cell on Asgard, though not nearly as worthy as Azkaban, I am sure," he hummed.  
"Well yea-wait! did you just use a Harry Potter reference?!" Clint squeaked, Loki arched an eyebrow.  
"We were discussing the child, Clint," he said and the other man coughed, right back on track.  
"R-right...okay...and...if I said no?" he say the almost imperceptible way Loki's eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together, he knew Natasha, he picked up on these things.  
"Then the child would be killed in the womb," Loki said his voice nearly flat.  
Clint's eyes widened noticeably, "Oh...um...oh..." he bit his lip and then nodded and turned.  
"I want to make it clear," Loki started and Clint looked over his shoulder, "I want it known that your decision was not influenced by me what so ever, you will decide based on what you think is right for the child, not me, is that clear?" Loki asked his eyebrow quirked in an irritating way.  
Clint snorted at that, "Don't worry, that's not going to happen."  
"I would expect nothing less from one with such heart," Loki replied his eyes already back on his book.  
Clint stood frozen for a long moment, but then kept walking, leaving without another word.  
~  
Their time was done, three months had passed, and Loki was almost showing, there was the smallest of bumps on his navel, he was not unaware of the looks it got whenever he was in the room.   
But now it was the day he was scheduled to have made a decision, and Odin was supposed to come, it was obvious the mortals waiting around were nervous, Thor too.  
For some reason Loki wasn't, despite the fact that the father of his child was sweating up a storm.  
"How long will this take, do you think?" Tony murmured, to no one in particular.  
"As long as it normally takes for such things, I would imagine," Loki replied looking over at Tony with an arched eyebrow and looking somewhat amused.  
"But how long do they take?" Tony asked back.  
"How long does it take to discover the father of your tool of a son's unborn child and find out whether or not you get to kill that child? I haven't the slightest." Loki replied easily.  
"Thanks for that," Tony replied dryly, Loki smiled sweetly.  
"Anything for you, Mr. Stark," he replied in a nearly girlish tone and Tony spluttered, Loki grinned.  
"Brother stop teasing them," Thor said quietly.  
"But this may be my last chance to do so, I do not want to waste it," he replied trying to look innocent.  
"Brother..." Thor sighed and Loki opened his mouth to protest when suddenly a bright light engulfed the balcony of Stark Tower. Loki's mouth snapped shut.  
After the light dissipated three figures stood on the balcony, one of which was Odin himself the other two were Einherjar.  
Thor shot off of the chair he'd been sitting in and immediately stood next to his brother, out of habit or support it wasn't clear. Either way he stiffened when the man came over to them, his eye took his son in for a moment before turning to Loki.  
"Have you found the father?" he demanded immediately, Loki bristled, he wasn't good enough for even a greeting then? The old bastard.  
"Yes," he said through gritted teeth, he glanced at Clint then, who was wide eyed, but he did take a step forward. That was something.  
"And? What has he decided?" Odin demanded, Loki arched a lazy eyebrow.  
"I know not, why not ask him?" he replied and Odin's eyebrow furrowed, he opened his mouth again, not even glancing at Clint who was now about a foot away from Loki.  
"I'm over here, I know it may be hard to see things with one eye, thought I'd help out," Clint said, seeming to get over himself.  
Odin's eye narrowed, but he didn't reply, "What have you decided then?" he demanded and then Clint pursed his lips, glanced at Loki and then took a deep breath, "I'm going to keep it."  
Odin seemed to glare at him for a long time then finally turned away, "Very well," he said as if this disappointed him greatly, Loki smirked wryly. Anything that displeased Odin, pleased him.  
"I take from you your power," he murmured softly, "And give you the mortal life to bear your child," Loki gasped as suddenly he was engulfed in light, everyone else took steps back in surprise, when the light cleared instead of the dark haired man that had been standing there it was a woman who was about a foot shorter with a foot more of black hair.  
Odin moved away, "We will return after the child is born, to take the prisoner back into custody." He instructed and before anyone could say anything, he and the Einherjar moved back to the balcony and vanished into light.  
"Old...bastard," Loki growled, voice lighter but still had the same silvertongue tone to it, but then she took a step and stumbled, "D-damn!"  
"Brother!" Thor cried and immediately his hands reached out to help his stumbling sibling but Loki only hissed.  
"I am not your brother you complete oaf!" she snapped, stumbling again, and this time Clint caught her, she only struggled until she realized it was him.  
"Okay, yeah, that....I remember," he said, looking her in the eye, "You proved you had a silvertongue in this form too."  
About three people blushed, one of whom was Loki, she smacked Clint in the arm, "Let me go!" was all she managed.  
"Are you going to fall over?" he asked, and Loki scoffed at him and pushed him away, and indeed almost fall over again.  
"Damn that arrogant vainglorious old man!" she snarled, "He changed me without warning," she growled.  
"Oh, your hormones must be skyrocketing," Bruce hummed, "That would make a lot of sense, are you dizzy?"  
She glared at him, "So that's a yes," he looked fairly interested, Loki growled, Clint appeared to be holding back laughter.  
"Okaaay, let's not make the pregnant lady angry," he said cheerfully, making sure to keep Loki up as he slowly led her out of the room.  
"I am going to strangle you," Loki growled at him.  
"Sure thing, once you regain the use of your arms, I'm all for it," he replied just as cheerfully as before.  
"What has you so high spirited?" Loki grumped and Clint grinned.  
"I just stood up to the big man in the sky, and I'm still alive!" he beamed and then he shrugged, "He's kind of a dick isn't he?" Loki blinked at him, "I guess I don't really blame you, all considering."  
Loki only blinked at him again, "You are letting your endorphins think for you," she said finally once they'd reached the bed, Loki sat down with a relived sigh rubbing at her hips.  
"Stupid old bastard," she muttered, then she turned to Clint and frowned, "Why did you say yes?"  
Clint bit his lip and shrugged, Loki gave him a look, a shrug was not going to cut it, he sighed, "I...I had to think about it...for a long time." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.   
"I didn't want to keep it...for ages because it was yours, I still kinda don't want to have anything to do with you, but I finally realized, it's not the kids fault." He deflated somewhat, "I've taken more lives than I can remember, I guess now...it's about time I started to give life instead..."  
Loki was silent through his words finally she nodded as if that was exactly what she wanted to hear, then she laid on the bed, "Thank you...for not letting me fall," she said instead of replying, Clint nodded.  
"Yeah, just...ask Jarvis if you need anything, okay?" he said and she nodded, closing her eyes. "Okay..." Clint said feeling awkward, he left the room and then sighed. This was going to be fun.  
~  
Once Loki's hormones managed to get to a normal pregnant out of control level, she was less likely to snap, unless your name was Thor. But for some reason, Clint was the only one who could actually handle her.  
"Brother please I-" Thor started and had an apple thrown in his face, since she was mortal now, the apple only bounced off the Asgardian.  
"I am not your brother you infuriating oaf! How many times do I have to say it before it gets through your thick skull!" She nearly screeched, Thor flinched.  
"Bro- Loki...please I only wish to help you," the blond pleaded and had another apple thrown at him.  
"Help with what?! Trying to push me back where you would have me?! In the shadows? Need I 'know my place'?!" she screamed this time, "Nothing you can do will ever help me! It is too late! You will never have me the way I once was! You lost your chance! I am tired of being your shadow!"   
"Loki I-!" Thor looked absolutely heartbroken, but wasn't able to speak, Loki just kept throwing apples at him, swearing at him in Norse, not giving him a chance to speak, lucky for Thor, Clint, Steve and Natasha walked in.  
"Hey whoa!" Clint moved in front of Loki and grabbed her wrists, "What's going on?" He asked and just then noticed the tears streaming down Loki's face.  
"Let me go!" she demanded, trying to yank her wrists out of his hands but couldn't. "Let go!" she cried again, and just started sobbing.  
"Come on big guy, I'll show you how to play 'Mario Kart'," Steve said to Thor who was looking much like a kicked puppy, but he went with the other muscled blond.  
Natasha looked at Clint who now had a sobbing pregnant woman pressed against his chest, he looked completely lost as to what to do. Natasha rolled her eyes and then went about the kitchen to start making tea.  
It took a little while but finally Loki stopped crying, she pulled away from Clint stiffly and refused to meet his eyes, "Forgive me for such behavior, I am still unused to the fluctuating emotions the child is causing me."  
"Don't worry about it," Clint said with a frown just as Natasha set the tea on the counter.  
"Drink, it'll help you calm down," she said, "It's not poisoned," she added when Loki eyed the cup warily. Clint sighed and took the cup first, taking a taking a good sip before handing it over.  
"Come on, drink," he said and Loki took the cup, took a tentative sip looked down at the drink in surprise and then drank some more much more readily. Apparently liking it.  
Clint grinned and leaned on the counter, "So...what was that about?"  
Loki gave him a look and took the cup from her lips, "What was what?"  
"Loki...come one, we've heard you screeching at your brother nearly every day for the past four months, that was new," Clint said and Loki scowled at him.  
"I told you I am still unused to the spike in emotions, it was-"  
"To be fair this is going to happen a lot now that you're a woman and finally have all of the proper things to carry a child," Natasha said waving her hand in Loki's direction, Loki frowned behind the mug.  
"I hardly see how it any of your business," she sniffed, Clint rolled his eyes.  
"Well you make it our business when you scream it where we can hear you," he said and Loki glared at him.  
"It was just a burst of anger and old resentments..." she grumbled, "Nothing more than that."  
"Ah-huh...still feeling upset about being a shadow?" he asked and Loki's glare intensified.   
"I see no point in you asking a question with an obvious answer," she replied setting down the now empty mug.  
"I just thought if you talked about it, it'd make you feel better," he said and Loki arched an eyebrow.  
"Have you talked about it?" she asked back, Clint blinked, "Have you spoken of your time with me? Has it made you feel better?" she asked, and Clint frowned.  
"Well no but I-"  
"Then I have no need to speak of my own ill fated time with an oaf who treated me as if I were nothing more than a servant who was privileged to be at his side, not a brother!" she snapped, "Now excuse me, I need a bath."  
With that she stormed out, not looking back, and not saying thank you for the tea. Natasha looked over to Clint.  
"How did he treat you?" she asked, she didn't need to clarify.  
Clint looked to the door that Loki had stomped out of, and sighed, "Like a soldier."  
~  
As the months went on Loki steadily grew more and more miserable as her stomach swelled. She was now easily brought to tears, and couldn't stop until she exhausted herself from crying. She ended up clinging to someone at these times.  
Usually she was attached to Clint or Thor, but when neither of them were there it was Steve, but on occasion she would cling to Tony or Bruce.   
The Avengers had the ability to handle aliens trying to take over the world, or robots trying to steal the Eiffel Tower, or a giant mutant whale in the Boston harbor, but a sobbing pregnant Norse god, they were completely useless.  
Tony had freaked out the first time Loki had come down to him in his lab, he'd squawked like a deranged bird until Loki tugged on his hair until he shut up. He stood still for several minutes to see if Loki would do anything else, but she didn't. Only clung to him with her face pressed into his back. Now whenever she did it he would talk to her about what he was doing, since he still had the use of his arms. After awhile it almost seemed to help.  
The first time she started sobbing at the sigh of Bruce he had immediately turned around, because it was like he was expecting it, but she didn't let him leave instead she attached herself to his side, he had looked around looking completely and utterly at a loss of what to do. But no matter what Loki clung onto him like her life depended on it, eventually he settled down on the couch with a book, saying that he did have some reading to catch up on.  
They got used to this, until one day Thor came to them and said Loki had had a really bad nightmare the night before, causing her to cling to him and beg him not to go. He thought that this may have explained her behavior recently as her clinginess was really not something he'd ever known his brother to do.  
Clint volunteered (was forced) to be the one to figure it out, "It's your baby mama!" Tony had insisted.  
Clint sighed as he opened the door to Loki's bedroom, he saw her curled tight in the middle of the bed, he could hear gentle sniffs.  
"Loki?" he said softly, and the sniffling stopped, she rolled over and Clint noticed that she really looked awful, her eyes were baggy and there were dark circles, almost like the first time Clint had met him.   
"What?" she grumbled, and Clint bit his lip, he sat down on the bed.  
"You look like shit," he said flatly and he watched slowly as tears pooled under green eyes, "Aaah! I didn't mean it like-! No wait, please don't cry!" He waved about frantically, "I just meant you look tired! Thor said you weren't sleeping and I just came to check on you?" he tried and Loki turned her face away.  
"Doesn't matter," she muttered, Clint swallowed and slowly he reached a hand out, then gently set it on her head.  
"It does actually, I mean it has you clinging to us like it'll be the end of the world if you let go," he said and she stiffened slightly.  
"You should not joke of such things...not where I am concerned," she muttered and Clint recalled one of Tony's 'hey listen to this!' and quoted a Wiki about Loki's mythology, right he was fated to bring destruction to the worlds of Yggdrasil.  
"Sorry, I forgot," he muttered, "But seriously what's up? You not been sleeping well?"  
She shrugged, "It happens on occasion the hormones mess with my head and give me strange dreams."  
"Like what?" he asked, absentmindedly running his hand through her hair, he'd always liked dark haired beauties.  
"J-just...bad things..." she muttered her eyelashes fluttering from the sensations of gentleness on her scalp, "Sometimes...the baby is taken from me...before it is born...and killed...s-sometimes it is you who kills it!" This time her eyes pinched closed, and she let out a choked sob.  
Clint immediately pulled her up and held her against his chest, he was already so used to the touching her he didn't realize this was the first time he had pulled her close, "You know that wouldn't happen," he said, and Loki nodded but sobbed.  
"N-not on your own...n-no...but...with the scepter you did things that you would not," she said a bit rushed.  
"Hey, hey, that won't happen, you don't have it any more remember?" he said and Loki shook her head.  
"Not me...so much worse..." she whispered and buried her face in his shoulder.  
"What's worse?" he asked softly and she only shook her head, eventually her grip on him loosened and he was able lay her back down on the bed, he was about to go, but her hand reached out and grabbed his.  
"Not yet, please," she whispered, nearly begging, he nodded and sat back down, she took hold of his pants and slowly went back to sleep.  
Clint bit his lip, he wondered if they weren't who they were, if maybe they could have actually been normal. But then he snorted silently, what a stupid thought.  
~  
"So...it's nightmares?" Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowing.   
"According to some of my research some women can have very vivid and strange dreams while pregnant, it could be that Loki's already messed up mind and the combination of hormones is driving her further from sanity, if that's possible, and then she's sleep deprived so she's not fully aware of what she does when she's awake," Bruce said, holding up a book.  
"Well...what do we do about it? And why if that's what she's dreaming about does she come to us?" Tony asked.  
"I don't think that was the only thing she dreamt about Tony, she probably has dreams of all of us," Clint said, "I thought about it...I think...she's scared of someone else...someone who may be stronger than the Hulk," he said and the others blinked, he shrugged, he didn't know for sure, but that was the conclusion he came to.  
"Well...I guess someone had to give him the glowing stick of destiny, huh?" Tony wondered aloud, "Never really thought about that. Hey do you thin- No...well...maybe. Jarvis pull up some close ups of Loki's face during the New York Invasion would you?"   
"Dare I ask why, Sir?" The AI replied but did as told and there were several close ups on the screen in Tony's hand.  
"Who taught you how to be sassy?" Tony replied idly as he looked at the pictures, "AHA!"   
He pulled the picture up onto a bigger screen so the others could see, "What are we looking at?" Natasha asked, arching a brow.  
"Mmm, Jarvis, pull up a picture of Clint during the heist in Stuttgart?" there was another picture that popped up next to it. "You guys not seeing it?" Tony asked trying not to appear smug.  
"The eyes," Clint said, "my eyes are a gray-blue, but in the pictures they're that...creepy blue."   
"That's right, and what color are Loki's eyes?" Tony asked.  
"Well blue-" Steve started.  
"My brother's eyes have always been a deep shade of green," Thor said quietly.  
"Ding ding! We have a winner, Loki's eyes are green but during the whole of the invasion," several pictures flickered by, but it was long enough to see the tricksters eyes, "They are blue, what's that tell us?"  
"Some one else was controlling him," Steve said, "That...kind of changes everything...but then why..?"  
"Why did he still take credit for it?" Bruce murmured, "It could be...he wants to be locked away...?"   
"Why would he want that?" Tony frowned, he could never be locked away for too long, unless it was of his own accord.  
"To hide," Natasha said, "From whatever she thinks is stronger than the Hulk."  
"Well, that's highly reassuring," Clint muttered, everyone else was silent for a long time, and didn't speak for a long time, they also didn't notice when Loki came in, looking a little better rested than normal, she was even smiling.  
"Clint..." she said softly, and the man looked up.   
"Loki, are you okay?" he asked concerned and she nodded holding her hand out to him.  
"Give me your hand," she instructed, he complied without a thought. She brought it close, placing it on her stomach.  
"Wha-" he started but she shook her head.  
"Just wait," she said and then suddenly he felt it, a jab, right against his palm.  
"Holy Crap!" he cried, "Was that-?"   
She laughed, probably for the first time in a very long while, she laughed, "Yes," she replied smiling contentedly.  
"Whoa..." he muttered and grinned himself, as he felt another kick. "That's the best news I've had all day!"  
"Well we also discovered the cure to cancer, how's that for news-OW!" Tony flinched as he had several things thrown at him simultaneously, Loki laughed again, and that somehow made everyone else feel lighter.  
~  
After that Loki was somehow able to sleep better, it seemed all she'd needed was understanding, but she slept the best when she was beside someone, which was perhaps why she had always fallen asleep after attaching herself to someone. But now Thor (who she would frown at and swear at profusely in every language she knew, which was a great many,) would always be beside her, until she shoved him off the bed in a fit of pique, those nights Clint was shoved at the bedroom by Tony telling him to go have fun with his baby mama.  
Loki would usually be reading, but never looked upset to see Clint there, they usually just ended up talking. Clint discovered that when Loki wasn't a maniac, she was really quite funny and not so bad to be around. Though around the end of the third trimester, Loki was bursting and Clint couldn't help but touch her belly at least once a day, she didn't seem to mind, she seemed to really enjoy touch, she would never say so aloud however.  
“I look like a...like one of the slugs they use to eat in Svartalfheim,” she pouted poking at her belly one evening, Clint snorted sitting on the bed next to her.  
“We say whale, it's less grotesque and doesn't spoil appetites,” he replied and was immediately punched in the arm, he chuckled. “In case you're forgotten, which I doubt, you're actually you know...pregnant, so...um I'm pretty sure that-” he waved his hand at her belly, “Is normal, stop complaining.”  
“You are perhaps the least sympathetic mortal I know,” she replied and Clint had to out right laugh at that one.  
“How many mortals do you claim to know exactly?” he asked with a grin, Loki glowered at him, “Though you still haven't tried to get sympathy from Tony which would probably be harder.”  
“I do not think Stark has a feeling bone in his body, even when it is not soaked in alcohol,” she replied and Clint snorted again.  
“You'd be right, naw, even Natasha is more sympathetic and she's been an assassin for longer than I've been alive,” he said Loki arched an eyebrow at that, he'd always figured Natasha was younger, Clint flapped his hand to wave the comment away. “Tony's kind of like you, you both are really independent and feel scorned because someone else did everything 'right' the first time, right?”  
He glanced at the woman who was pursing her lips, “Yes, I suppose that would be an accurate way to show how we are related, though Tony Stark has already overshadowed his father and in a positive way. I however have done no such thing to Thor,” she said.  
“You're gonna be a mom, that's pretty positive I think, and he can't do it,” he said with a shrug, he could see out of the corner of his eye that she was looking at him.  
Slowly she reached a hand out to him and took one of his, “You are a good man, Clint Barton, I am pleased to bear your child,” she said and his eyes widened, “But any repeat of that will be met with a vehement denial and sound verbal lashings.”  
Clint grinned, “Deal.” And then just to be cheeky he leaned over and kissed her cheek, “As will that.”  
“You are a little shit,” she told him, repeating what Tony liked to call her when she was in a good mood, and Clint lost it, howling in laughter.  
But she smiled too, she knew now that at least their child would be cared for, it was perhaps good that she would not be involved.  
She could hope that was the case, but until the time where she had to leave, she would enjoy her time with Clint.  
~  
Loki was poking around in the kitchen, trying to teach Steve how to make a mince meat pie, and the man was a fairly good student, but was always trying to 'help' her, she had a tendency to smack his hands when he did that. Steve couldn't help it, she was small and her stomach was just so big, he was afraid she'd fall over!  
“Did you set the oven?” she asked, Steve was rather glad that she had appeared surprised that it wasn't a wood burning oven, he actually felt more with it, but hadn't said a word about it.  
“Yep, do I just put it in then?” he asked and she nodded, “You know it doesn't look nearly as appetizing before it's cooked,” He said making a face, she grinned.  
“It is rather amusing how that works, is it not?” she replied, Steve laughed but was interrupted by a sudden cry of pain.  
“Loki! Are you okay?” he asked turning to see her clutching her belly, “Is it the baby?” he asked almost frantic.  
“Y-yes! It is coming!”she gasped and Steve had only a moment to panic before he picked her up and headed straight for the med bay.  
“Jarvis alert the others!” he said.  
“Already have, Captain,” the AI replied.  
It didn't take long for them to arrive, and for Steve to set her on the bed before making a hasty retreat out of the room. Of course Clint and Thor were already in a panic, Loki snapped at them to shut up or she'd rip off their heads and then was cut off by another cry of pain from a contraction.  
Bruce was already there, he had delivered babies before, though rarely from swearing Norse gods, if at all. He was doing his best however, and the only thing Loki said to him was 'Do not mess up.' Which from the trickster was almost like trust.  
While Bruce was busy preparing for the baby, Loki continued to yell at Thor and Clint in between contractions. Eventually Clint tried to shut her up, he did this by kissing her, which actually seemed to work because she only blinked in shock, Thor and Bruce looked at him with varying degrees of surprise and being impressed. He shrugged and then got punched in the arm.  
“Asshole!” Loki yelled and tried to smack him repeatedly.  
“What! It got you to calm down didn't it?!” Clint cried back, trying to guard himself from the smacks, Loki only smacked him again before crying out from the pain once more.  
“Your child is twice as irritating as you!” she snapped and Clint shrugged.  
“Hey! It's your kid too, you gotta get some credit here,” that earned him another smack.  
“Alright Loki, can you smack and push at the same time?” Bruce asked and Loki groaned.  
“I can most certainly try,” she replied and Thor could not help but laugh, placing his hand over Loki's.  
“That is the brother that I know,” he said and that earned him a smack too, but he only grinned.  
“Alright Loki, you need to push now,” Bruce said and Loki cried out as she did so, panting when Bruce told her to stop.  
“I hate you...” she moaned pathetically, and Clint grinned.  
“Feeling's mutual, sweetheart,” he replied and grabbed the hand that tried to hit him again but she was increasingly growing weaker. “I'll make it easier for you, you can try to break my fingers, I'll even let you use your nails.”  
Loki did as he said and squeezed as hard as she could, but unfortunately she had only mortal strength to rely on and there weren't cracking bones like she'd hoped.  
“Push again,” Bruce instructed and she did so, screaming in pain, pushing and squeezing Clint's hand so hard now he actually flinched.  
It ended up being a very long labor, as it turned out, there were a few complications, but in the end, Loki gave one final push, and there was a loud cry as the child finally came into the world.  
“Huh, got your lungs,” Clint murmured.  
“Asshole...” she breathed, and Clint grinned while Bruce went about cleaning the child off, he then easily handed over the baby to Loki who was really too weak to sit up let alone hold the child. But Clint helped her.  
“It's a girl,” Bruce said with a smile, as Loki looked down at the little girl, her movements jerky, her hair was a dark blond and her eyes a bright green.  
“Congratulations, Brother,” Thor said with smile of his own.  
“Well then, there you go,” Clint whispered, starting down at his daughter in awe. Loki laughed weakly.  
“Yes...there you are,” she replied, looking down at the babe with a small smile on her face, but she looked positively exhausted, “Clint...you will have to take her...I have no more energy...”  
“Oh...um...right...” he stuttered for a moment, then awkwardly took the baby into his arms, “Now what...?” he asked and Bruce pat his shoulder, he'd already cleaned things up, allowing Loki to lay normally.  
“It's probably best if she is fed, but I don't think Loki is up for that yet,” he said and Loki nodded, her eyes were already closing.  
“Just...a short rest...” she murmured, “Then...I will feed...her...” and then she slipped into sleep, Thor set his hand gently on her hair.  
“We should leave her to rest,” he said and Bruce nodded.  
“Tony is going to want to see the baby...I think he mentioned something about aliens...” the doctor rolled his eyes.  
“Don't tell Loki that,” Clint said with a small laugh still looking down at the babe, he was a little blown away. This little thing, this tiny little life, was his daughter.  
It was really quite magnificent.  
~  
“Come on, let me hold her,” Tony whined, pouting like a child.  
“No. Mine,” Clint replied more or less in the same manner. Natasha sighed and took the baby from Clint's arms, holding her close.  
“She still needs a name,” she said, rocking the baby gently to try and calm her, she was very fussy, owing to the fact that she was hungry, but Loki was still sleeping.  
“Yeah, Loki and I never really talked about it...” Clint muttered and then had a StarkPad in his face opened to a 'Norse Baby Names' page.  
“Pick one, she can't complain,” Tony said, he heard a soft sigh from Thor but no objections, Clint rolled his eyes and took the pad.  
“Um...these names are...weird,” he said after a long moment, “No offense Thor,” he added quickly.  
“It is alright, friend, I find some of your names to be a little odd too,” Thor replied genially.  
“Mmm...I kinda like Eria...means snow...” he said, Tony leaned over to look and snorted, Thor frowned looking confused.  
“That's Eira, Clint,” Tony said sounding amused and Clint scowled, shoving the pad back at Tony.  
“Give me a break, I'm dyslexic,” he grumbled.  
“Really?” Tony sounded surprised, “That's really hard to believe all considering...”  
Clint shrugged, “Used to get my lefts and my rights mixed up but I trained myself out of it...I don't read much.”  
“You wouldn't need to,” Tony said, slapping his back, “So...name?”  
“I don't know, I actually kind of like Eria,” Natasha said, “She looks like an Eria,” she said smiling at the baby who was now mewling for food.  
“You should probably take her to Loki now, feed her, then talk about names,” she said setting the baby back in Clint's arms.  
“Good idea,” he said smiling at the little life in his arms. “Then she'll probably pass out again, she has been exhausted the past month.”  
“Sir,” JARVIS started, “There was just a magnetic disturbance in Miss Lie-” abruptly the AI cut out and Tony was on his feet.  
“Jarvis!” he barked.  
There was no response. In a second everyone was headed straight to where Loki had been sleeping.  
Thor got there first, but it was too late, the bed was empty, the window had been cut out of the wall, there was hardly any sign of struggle, chances were she hadn't any energy or time to do so.  
“What the hell...?” Tony muttered, “Jarvis!” he barked again, looking very concerned. There was an electronic garble from the ceiling, and then the AI was back.  
“-smiths room, I just...oh dear me...it seems I was just blocked, Sir,” the AI sounded very put out about this, well as put out as an AI could be.  
“Yes, it does seem that way doesn't it?” Tony replied darkly, he did not like people touching his things.  
“But where is my brother!” Thor cried, going over to the bed and patting it down as if Loki could be hiding.  
“Well it's not like she could have gotten up and walked away,” Natasha said, “Or blow out a window.”  
“She was taken, by what...I have no idea...but it seems that's the obvious explanation,” Bruce murmured.  
“By who though...?”  
“Odin?” Tony tried and Thor shook his head.  
“Nay, I would have felt the BiFrost activating,” Thor said, “Father would not have taken her so soon, he is not so heartless as that.”  
“Mmm, then...who else?” Steve asked, looking around.  
“You remember those nightmares?” Clint murmured standing in the door, looking at the mewling baby in his arms, unable to feed her like she needed, “There was one that she feared was stronger than the Hulk,” he said, “The one that was controlling her...”  
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.  
“You remember when I told you about her slipping that sabotage plan in my head? I think she wanted to get caught, I think she wanted to get away from whoever was holding her leash,” Clint murmured, “Thor...how much did he try to get out of his imprisonment?”  
Thor sighed, “He did not, looking back on it now, he did all he could to ensure he would be locked away...now I know why,” Thor looked devastated, “If only he had told me-”  
“He wouldn't have done that Thor, you know that, he's smart enough to know that when he is called the god of lies, he knows no one will believe him, especially when he is telling the truth,” Tony said, “It's not your fault, this is just how things ended up.”  
“I could have done much more for him in our youth, and later, I-” he shook his head and took a deep breath, “And now she is gone to somewhere...under the mercies of a being that caters to only one, Death.”  
“You know this Thanos?” Natasha asked and Thor shook his head.  
“Only stories,” he said, “None of them good, but if they are true then we can not leave my brother to his mercy any longer than we have already.”  
“Well~ Isn't it a good thing I have a tracker on Loki?” Tony beamed, the others turned to him and stared, “Okay it started off as like...a prank, right? But she kept finding all of the bugs I planted on her, so I had to get more creative. She's really observant...”  
“Brother has always been paranoid, but how can you be sure you have a...'tracker' on her?” Thor asked and Tony made a face.  
“Okay...I can't be absolutely positive...but I have a hunch, I put it in her food, well your food, so...she would have most likely eaten it, and the only problem is that she may have already digested it...”  
“Tony...that's fucking gross,” Clint said and the others seemed to agree, Tony coughed.  
“And now you know why I didn't tell you sooner,” he said and the Bruce frowned.  
“You've done this with all of us...haven't you?” he asked, and Tony coughed.  
“Maybe, but I know Natasha found the one on her and crushed it...I uh stopped trying with her after I translated what she said before she crushed it,” he said, the woman looked pleased.  
“Great, so now that we all know Tony needs a new hobby, get on with it, can we find her?” Bruce asked and Tony grunted and grabbed a StarkPad and started typing away, frowning in concentration. He sighed, “Nope, it's either gone, or not working because she's too far away...”  
“Well that gives us absolutely nothing to go on,” Clint growled.  
“Hey now, hold on loverboy, we still haven't fully inspected the room, scanned it for traces, things like that, keep your baby in a bonnet,” Tony said, “We got this don't worry.”  
“Don't call me loverboy,” was all Clint said, “I'm going to go find something to feed my baby before she starves...shit...I have a baby...” he muttered to himself as he left.  
“Now what?” Steve asked and Tony opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly there was a bright light on the balcony, everyone looked at Thor, but he shrugged.  
They went to the penthouse living room, “Mother! Lady Sif!” Thor exclaimed in when he saw the two women standing in front of Clint.  
“Thor,” Frigga smiled, albeit it was a sadly, “Heimdall saw her taken,” she said, “He was able to watch where she was taken, the edge of the Nine, you must rescue her. Sif is here to guide you,” the queen said softly.  
“We will leave immediately,” Thor said, “Clint, I am sure my mother would not be adverse to taking care of the baby.”  
Frigga smiled, “No, I would be more than happy to care for her.”  
Clint pursed his lips, looked at the baby and then nodded slowly, he gently placed the baby in her grandmother's arms, the woman looked down on her with such fondness Clint knew she would be okay.  
“What is her name?” she asked and Clint flushed.  
“Um...”  
“Eria,” Natasha said, “Her name is Eria.”  
“How lovely,” Frigga smiled, holding the babe close, the very epitome of motherly warmth exuding from her.  
“She hasn't eaten yet,” Clint said, and Frigga made a 'tsking' sound.  
“That is no good, I will find something suitable. Now, I suggest you go after Loki, we will not know how much damage has been done already,” she said firmly, the others nodded.  
“Come, the Bifrost will deposit us as close as we can get,” Sif said, gesturing back to the balcony.  
“Um...should we bring...like...oxygen?” Clint asked, a little wide eyed.  
“Loki still lives, so it will be fine for mortals,” Sif said, “Now are we going?”  
“Ah give us a second...” Tony said tapping away at his StarkPad.  
“Right. Team, suit up,” Steve said and the most of them ran off quickly, to grab necessaries, the only ones who remained were Natasha and Bruce, Clint just had to get up on a bookshelf and grab one of the bows he kept in the vent.  
He hopped down and stood next to Natasha, quiver and bow slung over his back, Sif looked at them for a moment and then nodded, as if deciding she liked them.  
“Aah...I should probably just stay here,” Bruce muttered, but no one had a chance to reply as suddenly Tony's latest armor came out of nowhere and engulfed him.  
“No go, Brucey, we need you,” Tony's mechanical voice said, “You may be the only one who actually has a chance with this.”  
“That's highly reassuring,” Bruce muttered but sighed, and stayed where he was until Steve was back with his shield.  
“Let's head out,” he said looking to Sif who nodded, Thor was already out on the balcony. Clint walked out after them giving Frigga one last look, she was smiling gently down at the baby, her hand waved and suddenly a bottle appeared, she gently held it for the babe. Clint knew that his baby was in good hands then. How could she not be in the goddess of family?  
The moment they were all standing close enough Thor looked to the sky, “Heimdall, open the Bifrost!”  
There was a moment of silence and then light engulfed them and they were carried away on a bridge of light.  
“Oh holy shit!” Clint exclaimed the moment they touched down, the only two who didn't stumble were Thor and Natasha, and Clint was sure she didn't by some fluke,  
“Well, that was fun,” Tony said.  
“I don't see how that was 'fun',” Natasha snarked back, Tony grinned at her, with his faceplate up.  
“I could sho-”  
“Tony, not now,” Steve sighed, and the inventor pouted.  
“Right right, Norse god rescue,” he grumbled and then put the faceplate down, “Let me do a scan...hey look there's oxygen! We can breath!”  
“You're an idiot,” Natasha and Bruce said in unison.  
“Killjoys,” Tony grumbled, “Well the nearest life is about two miles that way,” he pointed to their right, “So,” he lifted off of the ground, “See ya there!”  
“Stark, get your metal ass down here,” Clint barked, “We are not going to be held responsible when you get yourself killed.”  
“Wow Clint, fatherhood has changed you, so caring,” Tony replied, Clint flipped him off.  
“Can you be serious for five minutes, in case you've forgotten the woman who just gave birth to my child not even three hours ago is missing,” he snapped, glaring, absolutely done with the bullshit.  
“Right, right, sheesh,” Tony grumbled and plopped down on the ground, “It would still be faster to fly.”  
“We don't know anything about where we are going, arriving so obviously could very well get us all killed,” Sif said, giving Tony a look that made him both horny and terrified, mostly terrified.  
Tony held up his hands, “Fine, let's just go,” he said.  
Truth was, Tony was actually pretty nervous, he had already fallen through a black hole once, and just been shot through another one, he was surprised he wasn't having an anxiety attack, but that could have been the adrenaline, which would wear off if they just kept walking.  
But there was really no other choice, there were too many people for Thor and him to carry as they flew. If only Cap' could fly.  
So they walked, fast and with an unwavering pace, but walk they did. Tony hadn't looked up once since they'd landed on this rock, and it really was a rock, the more he looked around and scanned, he was pretty sure it was an asteroid...though with an atmosphere, strange. But he knew that the sky was big and open and he would not be able to look at it.  
He just stared forward, walking, he could get through this. Yeah, or he'd freak out later. After he drank...a lot.  
Luckily it didn't take long before they reached the location that had 'life', turns out the life were tall pig like humanoid aliens with big guns. The moment they were spotted, they were fired upon and the Avengers burst into action, except for Bruce, he stayed back, he didn't think now was the best time to get involved, he just had a gut feeling, and luckily the Other Guy had it too.  
…  
A film that passed between two rising rocks served as a screen, it flashed between images of each Avenger, fighting the Kodabaks, getting closer and closer to the End Game.  
Slowly a bruised hand shakily rose toward the screen, reaching out for help, eyes unclear and only seeing faces that knew could bring salvation.  
But suddenly a large booted foot came down and stepped on the hand, eliciting a muffled cry and sobs, “Now, now little trickster, you will see them in person soon, do not be so impatient.” A deep voice said.  
Loki could only sob brokenly, but she could barely even do that, she couldn't open her mouth for the thick thread sewn through her lips, keeping it shut.  
“You have grown attached to your heroes haven't you? It will be the ultimate pleasure to destroy them all,” the large purple figure sitting in a rock throne chuckled, looking down at the bloodied and broken mortal woman at his feet.  
The fighting continued for a lot longer, Loki watched with silent tears trailing down her cheeks, she could see them all and was absolutely terrified.  
Clint, who was actually a really good man, he was funny and smart, she enjoyed talking to him, and she liked spending time with him, and she even didn't mind when he was a dick and kissed her to shut her up. He would make a wonderful father, she knew he would, and she had no reservations about leaving the baby with him...if this hadn't happened.  
Thor, her stupid, annoying, foolish, oaf of a brother. She still cared for his well being, deep down, she did not want him to die. What was Loki without Thor? Even if he was smothering.  
Bruce, he'd helped her actually get ready to have the baby, gave her check ups and talked to her about anything really.  
Stark, the annoying shit. She wasn't sure how but somehow they'd managed to become friends, and friends for Loki were more like trading off pranks, either way it was fun.  
Romanov, whom Loki had more in common than either of them would like to admit, when they were in the same room together they got along, and when they were in the same room alone, well no one was supposed to know about that.  
And the Captain, who Loki had teased mercilessly until all of the sleep deprivation caught up to her and she'd felt bad and somehow used him as a giant teddy bear, but he was sweet and was usually the one who brought her tea without her asking. They didn't talk much, but Loki found his presence comforting, and that was okay too.  
She didn't want them to die.  
She let out another sob, she had already had all hope rendt from her body, but there was a traitorous part of her heart that still believed they would be okay, but they couldn't win. Not against him.  
“Ah, finally, our heroes arrive to the last stretch of the race,” the titan's voice rang out, and Loki hadn't noticed but they were now here, she could hear their voices, but she was too weak to even try to look at them anymore.  
They must have said something wannabe heroic, she would have rolled her eyes if she could have, her heroes indeed.  
They were talking now and she was too far gone to even try to pay attention, she only noticed a slight woosh of air and something big and green rushed by, but then someone was lifting her up, saying her name.  
Oh it was Clint, he was saying something, it was probably some cliché hero thing, oh good nine how had she gotten into this mess?  
She wasn't sure what happened next but there was a monstrous cry, and shouts and then suddenly everything started to shake, cracking and breaking, she was lifted up, there was more shouting, and then there was golden light and she knew no more.  
~  
The moment Clint carried Loki through the balcony door Frigga rushed him looking positively frantic, “Oh! Oh my poor Loki,” she whispered, then more loudly, “Quickly take her to a bed, I will start healing her immediately! O-oh...” she had a hand over her mouth at the sight of the stitches in her mouth, shaking her head she followed Clint into the bedroom where the baby was laying in a pram that hadn't been there before. Clint figured the goddess had summoned it with magic.  
“This will take a long while, the little one will wake soon to be fed again,” Frigga said, summoning a bottle and handing it to Clint, “Now, it is best that you leave for now.” It was more of an order than anything else, she was a queen after all.  
“Uh...right,” Clint agreed, taking one more look at the battered Loki, he grabbed the pram and delicately carried it out out of the room to the living room.  
“Is she going to be okay?” Steve asked, looking worried.  
“Um..I don't know,” Clint murmured.  
“My mother is the most skilled healer in all of Asgard, Loki will be fine,” Thor said, but despite his words he still looked concerned.  
“Great...so now we wait,” Bruce muttered and headed for his rooms, “I'm going to go get on some new pants...”  
“I hate waiting,” Tony grumbled and headed straight for the bar.  
It was going to be a very long wait.  
~  
Loki weaved in and out of consciousness, she heard a soft voice, sweet and gentle, as hands glowed golden as they moved over her delicately fixing and mending and making her feel less and less wretched as time went on. But it never lasted very long. But it was the sweetest reprieve from reality she had had in so long.  
~  
Sif and Thor spoke for awhile before Sif returned to Asgard, only to return a few hours later, telling Thor his presence was needed back in Asgard. Thor sighed, but he left promising he would not be long.  
The others eventually went to bed, Clint watched over his daughter adamantly, keeping her pram beside his own bed so that he could be there the moment she started to cry.  
While the Avengers slept, another appeared on the balcony of the Tower, the King of Asgard walked in like he owned the place and made his way to where he knew his wife was, he could feel her magic easily, he stepped into the room and saw her sitting by the bed with his adopted child on it. He had seen with scrying what Loki had looked like after her rescue.  
She looked much better now, but that did not help with her mental state at all, and from what he could tell with the look on his wife's face, it was not good.  
He heaved an almost silent sigh, “What can be done?” he asked, and Frigga looked down at the sleeping woman who was still her child, her precious little one.  
“The healing of the mind is not something that can be done with healing magic, it takes time, but I fear that...that as a mortal...it was too much for her,” she closed her eyes for a moment, “I am afraid, there is nothing that can be done.”  
Odin was silent for a long moment, “I will-” he started but there was a mumble and Loki moved, her eyes glassy but comprehending.  
“M-Mother...?” she whispered, the holes in her lips healing, but still there as the wounds were not serious enough to warrant full healing, Frigga vowed she would finish the job the moment she had enough energy.  
“Yes, my sweet, I am here,” the woman said softly, reaching out a hand to cup the pale face, “You will be alright, my dove.”  
“M-Mother,” a hand shakily rose to set on top of the woman's, pale yellow bruises healing, “I-I'm s-sorry...” she whispered, “I'm sorry...I never meant...to-to...I just...w-wanted to make y-you-” she was crying again, and Frigga looked absolutely devastated, she had never know Loki to nearly bed for forgiveness.  
“Hush, my darling, hush, you are forgiven,” she whispered, tears now falling from her own eyes, she looked to Odin, who also had never known Loki to beg for forgiveness, Loki was too stubborn and far too proud for such things.  
He had been punished enough for his crimes.  
He stepped forward, and pressed his hand to Loki's head, her eyes blinked at him, and had not a trace of the anger he had so grown used to.  
“F-father...I-”  
“Hush, all is forgiven, you will be safe now,” he said and slowly she nodded and then leaned back into Frigga's arms, the man looked at his wife who looked a shade pleased with his actions through her tears, she nodded and he left, he needed to return to Asgard first, but he would return.  
Frigga held Loki until she fell asleep again, she would be fine for awhile, but Frigga would need rest soon, she needed to regain her energy, but she did not wish to leave Loki alone in case she awoke again.  
Luckily a few hours later the man, the father came in, holding the pram, he set it down next to the bed and looked down at Loki, “She looks a lot better...” he said, “But you look pretty tired,” he said and Frigga could not help but laugh.  
“No, I imagine not, I was hoping you would be able to watch her while I rest,” she said and Clint nodded.  
“Of course,” he said immediately, and Frigga smiled softly.  
“Thank you, dear, I won't be but a few hours,” she said and stood, making her way out of the room and to a guest room.  
Clint sat down in her vacated seat and looked over at Loki who was sleeping, he sighed, he'd tried not to admit it, not even to himself, but he was worried.  
When he'd seen her, looking so small at the feet of that...that thing, he'd lost it, but he hadn't been the only one, Hulk had roared in absolute fury and charged the titan, who had been somewhat surprised, he'd moved back maybe ten feet before he'd gotten a grip and kept the Hulk at bay.  
That had been terrifying. It had taken Thor shooting lightning, Tony shooting repulsor blasts constantly and about ten of Clint's explosive arrows to get the purple being to take a step back, it was only thanks to a chance shot from Clint's arrow right in the things face and Natasha slashing the back of his leg with one of the aliens knives and Sif doing the same to his other leg simultaneously that gave Hulk the chance to throw him off of the rapidly crumbling asteroid into space.  
Clint had snatched up the unconscious Loki and Thor had called for the bridge and they'd been whisked away not a second too soon.  
Holding her in the well lit area of Stark Tower let them see the extent of her wounds, she was bruised and bleeding nearly all over her body, but worst of all her lips were sewn shut, Thor had looked sick at the sight of it.  
But then Frigga had come and spent hours, almost three days alone with Loki, healing her, she was very good, Thor said, and spoke of many instances where he as hurt and his mother had healed him, Clint figured it was for his own benefit, to distract him, until Sif returned and he'd been told to return to Asgard.  
Despite victory the atmosphere in the tower was depressed, Bruce obviously wanted to help the queen but knew his methods wouldn't be as effective as hers so just paced and took the baby when Clint needed to rest.  
Tony was either drunk or down in his lab, Natasha would stay with Clint or be resting herself, Steve was the only one who attempted to go about things normally. Attempted, he was just as obviously worried about Loki as the others, but he felt the need to appear normal for his team.  
It was worth a shot even if it wasn't working.  
Clint sighed and leaned over Loki, “You're so much trouble,” he told her, “But I suppose that's just how you are, huh?” He sighed and set his chin on the bed.  
He was asleep before he realized it, he woke up when he felt a gentle tug at his hair, he blinked and looked up to see a hand shakily running through his hair, he sat up and the hand dropped to the bed.  
“Loki?” he blinked and he saw a dark eyebrow arch over a hazy green eye, she still had the energy to be sassy at least, “Right...you feeling alright?”  
“B-better,” she muttered, “H-how long?”  
“About four days,” he said and she frowned, “Your mother has been healing you,” and that seemed to make more sense.  
“Ah...” she whispered, she took a deep breath and then her eyes widened, “The baby!” she gasped and looked like she was about to sit up, but Clint pressed her down.  
“She's fine,” he said softly and moved to the pram, gently lifting the babe out, she slowly opened her eyes and mewled, Clint hushed her softly, gently rocking her before he moved over to the bed, he sat next to Loki and then gently placed the baby in her arms against her protests, she was too weak to hold her, herself, but Clint didn't care, he moved behind her, lifting her up gently and using his own arms to support hers, just so she could hold the baby.  
She took a deep breath and tried not to cry, but couldn't stop the tears, she looked down at the infant only six days old, a tuft of dark blond hair on her head, and green eyes, she was absolutely beautiful.  
“Hello flower,” she whispered, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks, her arms were so weak the only thing keeping them up were Clint's. “Her name...?” she asked, because she was not foolish to think they would have waited so long to give her one when they did not know if she could be retrieved.  
Clint coughed, “Ah...um...Eria,” he mumbled, Loki arched a brow, he couldn't see it, but could obviously sense it. “I um...meant to say Eira...cause we thought it should be Norse, but I um-”  
“You mix your letters sometimes, yes,” she finished, the corners of her lips quirking up.  
“Yeah...so...um...I said it and it kind of stuck,” he said and the woman let out a soft laugh.  
“I like it,” she said softly and she felt the man behind her relax, he must have been worried she wouldn't approve.  
“Yeah...” he agreed and she leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes, she was so tired, and it hurt so much, her mind was too mixed up, she just wanted it to end.  
But being in his arms, and just sitting like this, it helped, it wasn't going to cure everything and she still felt like falling apart, but it helped.  
She was silent for a long time, just holding the baby, in his arms and just being. She sighed, “You will be a good father,” she said, “I have no reservations of leaving her with you, I know you will love her.”  
“Whoa what do you mean 'leaving' her with me?” Clint asked, sounding put out.  
“Clint...Staying...with you...with the baby...that was never the deal, Clint...I was never meant to stay...” she whispered.  
“Y-you were just going to leave me with a baby? All on my own?” he asked incredulous, he couldn't even think-  
“You honestly thought that I would be able to stay?” she asked back, only her incredulity was accompanied by a sob, “That after all- all I had done, I would be able to love my child?”  
“I-” Clint was a little thrown back and could feel her shaking, gently he moved to take the baby and put her back in the pram, then he turned back to Loki. “What do you mean?”  
She shook her head, tears still falling from her eyes, “You really think Odin would allow me the pleasure of raising my child, after taking away the others?”  
“Others?” Clint asked, wide eyed, but she sobbed again, too gone to even realize he'd spoken.  
“A mortal child! I had to beg him to let me come here to find the father, to find you!” she choked on another sob, “He was going to kill her! Before she was even born! He was going to take her away from me.”  
Clint was a bit wide eyed, they had all known Loki had had a three month time limit to find the father of her child, though they had not known the reasons why. Now he did, if Loki wasn't able to find the father to give the baby to, she would have been aborted.  
Little Eria, who was so small, but so sweet, and would cry when she wasn't in Clint's arms, she was his little girl, six days old and already, he was completely and irrevocably in love with her. He couldn't imagine her not being born.  
And Loki had lost other children in the past? She must have been absolutely terrified, so far to the point that she would hunt down the mortal that she had been with and could not even recall doing so just to save this child.  
“Hey,” he murmured, reaching forward to hold her cheek in his hand, “It's going to be okay,” she said and she only sobbed again, shaking her head and closing her eyes, but her own hand shakily rose to place her hand over his.  
She didn't believe that for a moment, but she didn't have enough energy to argue further. She fell asleep clutching him tightly, and he didn't feel like moving.  
He was there until Frigga came back in the morning to relieve him, she smiled at them both softly, but sadly, she gave Clint another bottle to feed the baby, and he left with her shortly after so Frigga could finish healing her child.  
He heaved a sigh as he flopped on the couch, hoping to maybe rest a moment, but it wasn't to be, the Bifrost suddenly opened giving passage to none other than Odin.  
Clint stood up and frowned, unconsciously gripping onto his daughter more tightly, “What are you doing here?” he demanded.  
Odin stared at him unnervingly with a single eye for a long moment, “I have come to save my son,” he said, and Clint scoffed.  
“About time,” he grumbled and that got him a sharp look from Steve.  
“Um, right this way, your um...majesty?” Steve said gesturing to the bedroom, Odin nodded and was gone down the hall.  
“What the hell Clint? You could have been skewered!” Tony gaped, his fingers loose around his glass of scotch.  
“Well I wasn't, and sorry...just...the guy's a jerk,” he mumbled, “With something against kids,” he added sitting back down on the couch and pouting into Eria's hair, the little tuft of blond hair tickling his nose.  
“Um...right,” Steve sighed, “Just don't piss off the all powerful King of another planet.”  
“Whatever,” he sighed.  
Odin was in the room for a long while, and then suddenly there was a bright light, but nothing menacing happened like screaming or begging, and really what could they do? So they just waited.  
After the light faded there was some talking, and then Odin came out and went to the balcony to wait, Frigga emerged after him, she stood before the Avengers and took a breath.  
“I have healed every physical wound, there will be no scars,” she said, “The scars in her mind however were harder to solve...so we decided that to help to the best of our abilities...we would make her forget,” she said softly and Clint frowned, forget?  
“She will recall nothing at first and will walk with you seemingly like a soulless doll, all you need to do is treat her normally, her brain will fill in the rest, with a touch of magic. We have decided to let her live the life of a mortal.”  
“What did she say to this?” Clint asked, and Frigga smiled at him gently.  
“She consented, she felt she would rather have this than be so far gone she did not even realize it, she felt this was the better option,” she said, “I am leaving her in your care,” she told them all, “I expect her to be treated well. She has served her punishment, and she will not recall anything that happened that may be considered 'bad', I have blocked it and removed those events completely from her mind.”  
“But why a woman?” Tony asked, “Loki is a man right?”  
“She is the mother of a child now, and I can give her no better life than allowing her to embrace the joy of raising her child,” Frigga said, and Tony's mouth formed a small 'o'.  
“So...she will remember us then?” Clint asked, and Frigga nodded.  
“To an extent yes, she will remember any moment that you made her happy,” she said and looked straight at him, so pretty much she would remember him the most, well that wasn't embarrassing or anything. He did his best not to flush.  
“She will remember a life that is vaguely like the one she led on Asgard, but will not know the specifics, I do not expect there be a need...but if she asks for the truth...do not hesitate to give it,” the queen instructed, “It will not recount the memories, but the truth is the best thing to give to her,” she said and then sighed and slowly made her way over to the baby.  
Slowly she took her from Clint and kissed her head, speaking to her in Norse, singing softly, then she kissed her head once more with a silent blessing and handed her back.  
“I may return,” she smiled, “I would hate to miss my granddaughter growing up,” she said, “But farewell for now, Thor will return, but I will ask him to stay with Miss Foster for awhile, to give Loki time to adjust.”  
“Wait, should we be calling her Loki?” Tony asked.  
“When she wakes, she will give you her name, one of her own subconscious choosing,” she replied and then nodded to them and turned, she took her King's arm and then they were both gone. Leaving the Avengers on permanent babysitting duty.  
“Well...this turned out well,” Tony said and downed the glass.  
~  
She did wake several hours later and did exactly what Frigga said she would do, she walked around doing nothing, saying nothing and only watching them, as if she were taking them all in and making sense of them.  
Since Tony was the only one brave enough to ask, they found out that she was calling herself 'Lucia', which according to Bruce, was a Scandinavian name, Lucia Friggdottir, which they thought would give away the game straight away, but Frigga wasn't really well known at all, so they went with it.  
After about a day of this her eyes cleared and she finally acted like a normal person, interacting and talking and taking the baby from Clint the moment she started crying and feeding her the natural way. She was a natural mother, supposedly because that was all she really knew what to do at this point, but at least it was something to do.  
She was closest to Clint, obviously, she would smile at him the most and gently set her hand on his arm and tell him what a good father her was making and then giggle every time he blushed from it. It was fairly obvious she had a crush.  
She also got along with Natasha surprisingly well, but they figured that was the whole 'feminine mentality', when Tony said this aloud and within earshot he had a pillow thrown at his face and a knife thrown next to his foot.  
Overall it was pretty strange, but it wasn't bad. Lucia wasn't really anything like Loki save for when she was sarcastic and got this look in her eye that clearly said 'Mortal, I will defenestrate you again if you continue to show this level of idiocy'. And she could be quite mischievous when she wanted to which was fairly often, whenever Clint had the baby, she liked to pull pranks. Steve made it a goal that everyone tried to help her find a hobby.  
But she was also sweet and caring, and many things that it appeared Loki had lost over the strife he had suffered through his life, but the biggest difference was the smile. Loki smiled, yes, but it was with a hint of mania, Lucia smiled and it was completely genuine. The difference was startling.  
But welcome.  
~  
Lucia smiled down at Eria, “We're going to go shopping, won't that be fun, flower?” she cooed at the now two month old baby, Tony was now insisting that she have her own wardrobe as she'd been borrowing Natasha and Pepper's clothes, and then of course the baby needed about a gazillion more things as she'd been living out of diapers and the few outfits Tony had asked Pepper to buy, but she was growing fast and would eventually need bigger clothes.  
“Ready to go?” Clint asked as Lucia bent down to kiss the baby's belly and nuzzle her face a few times, the man rolled his eyes.  
“Ah-huh~” she said cheerfully, picking the baby up, kissing her head and beaming at Clint who couldn't help but let loose a laugh.  
“Well one thing's for sure she's going to be well loved, spoiled rotten,” he said and Lucia grinned, handing the baby over.  
“You're damn right she is, she deserves it, because she's my little flower,” she said kissing the baby's head again and then Clint's cheek almost unconsciously, as she had never moved to do that before. He blinked, but she didn't seem to notice.  
“Now come on slow poke, I wouldn't mind getting some clothes that fit myself, though Natasha and Pepper have wonderful taste,” she added, she had gotten on extraordinarily well with Pepper and now they were almost like best friends, “I think I'd like some other colors, like...green. Green is nice,” she said and Clint had to use the baby to hide his laugh.  
“Yep, the grass, trees, foliage...poison,” he said and got punched in the arm for his troubles, but he laughed.  
“You're a menace,” she told him and he grinned.  
“Cute though,” he replied, holding Eria up next to his face and kissing her cheek, causing her to burble happily, Lucia rolled her eyes but smiled.  
“Yes, yes, now let's go, I do not want to leave Pepper waiting,” she said heading out of her rooms and to the atrium.  
“Yeah, about that, why do I need to come again?” Clint asked, as they approached.  
“Probably the same reason I'm coming,” Tony sighed.  
“To hold the bags,” Lucia and Pepper said at the same time, grinning devilishly.  
“Goody,” Clint pouted at the baby.  
“Your mommy is so mean to me, and after I made her breakfast this morning too,” he said earning him a small fist on his cheek, “Yeah, I knew you'd understand.”  
“Your idea of 'making' is putting cereal in a bowl,” Lucia said with another roll of her eyes.  
“Hey that's fancy shit where I come from,” Clint protested as they headed down the elevator, “Then you know in the circus, that's pretty much all we ate...and funnel cake,” he hummed, “Good times.”  
“You're ridiculous,” Lucia grinned, but she was enjoying herself, then turned to the baby, “Ridiculous daddy, right flower?” she cooed and pretended to nom on the offered fist.  
“You three are really quite adorable, I hope you realize,” Pepper said with a smile, as she led the way to the car.  
“Where to first?” he asked, and Lucia hummed.  
“I think we should get the things for the baby first and send her home with the boys and just go shopping together Miss Potts, I don't think I'd mind some girl time,” she said, Pepper smiled.  
“That sounds perfect,” she replied and Happy smiled.  
“I'm on it,” he said closing the door for them. Lucia couldn't help but look at everything out of the windows as they drove, seeing as it was her first time out of the tower, it was understandable.  
She took it all in, Tony thought it was fascinating, as if she was a computer compiling data, and he had attempted to make several computer jokes, but after she didn't get the first three, Pepper used her heels to stab Tony in the foot.  
Once they got out, Lucia took the baby again, following Pepper into the department store and straight to the children's section, chatting away about what colors would be best for the nursery.  
Tony and Clint hung back, already feeling their souls slowly being sucked from their bodies, “I think there's a sport section around here somewhere, maybe we can sneak off,” Tony whispered, and Clint snorted  
“Sports are overrated,” he said, “When football players get paid more than you make your whole life as a carny doing the exact same thing, sports are overrated.”  
“You have a point,” Tony hummed, “We co-”  
“Is that Tony Stark?”  
“It is!”  
“Oh here we go...” Tony groaned, and Clint tried his best to slip away from the billionaire but Tony grabbed his shirt and kept him there.  
“Tony Stark!” it was a few middle aged woman, probably rich men's wives who were used to shopping to get attention rather than from their husbands.  
“Hello, Ladies,” he said cheerfully, they giggled, Clint groaned.  
“What are you doing here?” One of the ladies asked.  
“I didn't think this was your type of store!” the second exclaimed.  
“Are you going to have a baby?” the third one demanded, having taken in where they were standing, the other two squealed.  
“Oh my gosh! A baby!” they giggled, “A little Stark baby!”  
“Aha, no, no, just here with a friend,” he said gesturing at Clint. But the women wouldn't have it, they kept talking about a Stark baby, and unfortunately Pepper and Lucia chose that time to track the two men down.  
The third, most observant woman spotted Lucia who was still holding Eria, she came right into Lucia's personal space, “Aha! There the baby is! Isn't he just precious! Looks just like his daddy!”  
“Um...” Lucia frowned and glanced at Clint who was mouthing, 'Run!'  
“What's this though! Why is the nanny holding the baby?” one of the other women demanded glaring at Lucia.  
“Excuse me?” she demanded, but was ignored.  
“Oh let me hold him!” another one demanded, already reaching her hands out to take the infant. But Clint stepped in front of Lucia and glared.  
“I would appreciate if you left my baby alone, ma'am,” he said then turned to the other woman, “And I would appreciate if you did not call the mother of my child the 'nanny'.”  
“Well I never!”  
“Actually you did,” Tony said, “I told you I didn't have a kid,” he shrugged.  
“W-well,” one of the women spluttered.  
“I know! This is one of those 'pretend he's someone else's so he's not kidnapped!' isn't it?” another said, “Clever! Come now Mr. Stark, no need to be like that with us! Now let me hold him!”  
Lucia glared death at the woman, “If you so much as dare to touch my daughter I will throw you off of the roof of this building!” She snarled, “Just because you're rich doesn't give you any right to disregard anyone! Now back the hell off!”  
“Even if the baby was mine, which she's not, I wouldn't let you hold her, lady, now please back off before my friend here tears your hair out, I know she's entirely capable,” Tony said calmly, the women cleared off, spluttering and tripping over themselves as they did so.  
Lucia growled low under her breath until Eria started to fuss then her entire attitude changed, Clint could only gape at her.  
“Whoa...” he breathed and Tony grinned and sidled up to him.  
“Careful, Lovebird, your shame is showing,” he said and Clint blinked before it comprehended and his head snapped down to look at his crotch, he was fine though, and the comment earned Tony a punch in the shoulder.  
“We should go,” Pepper said, “Those women were too nosy for their own good,” she said, pushing a cart with a pile of baby stuff to check out.  
“Next time can we just order everything?” Tony asked and Pepper sighed.  
“It might be easier that way...”  
“No, I deserve to look around! I haven't been outside in ages,” Lucia said, giving the baby to Clint when he asked, she sighed, “I just...what kind of people would act like that?”  
“Self righteous trust fund babies who have always had things handed to them on silver platters and can do no wrong,” Tony explained, “Their types always annoyed me in boarding school.”  
“For good reason! The arrogance!” she huffed, crossing her arms, “Honestly! Was there anything other than 'you're spoiled and get what you want' taught to them?”  
“No, and question. Why did you threaten to throw her off the building?” Tony asked, Lucia blinked.  
“O-oh was...that too much? I just...it seemed like...a relevant threat...I guess?” she said and Tony only grinned.  
“Next time, threaten defenestration,” he said, “Sounds better.”  
“Right...” she muttered and didn't really talk much as Happy took the men home, Pepper insisted that the girls still go out, and invited Natasha along too. This would have been great, but Lucia suddenly realized that meant leaving the baby at home too, which she was not happy about. But Clint reassured her, and told her she would be fine. It was good to get a break.  
Lucia loosened up after about an hour and found that she really could have some fun, it was nice to have a ladies day, full of shopping and mindless chatter, she actually felt content and happy. It was nice.  
When they returned they were each carrying at least six bags in each hand, “Did you spend me out of Tower and penthouse?” Tony asked at the sight.  
“No, but we could certainly try if you like,” Lucia replied smiling.  
“I doubt it,” Tony replied, “By the way um...our uh resident thunder god is here,” he said, Natasha pursed her lips and Pepper hummed.  
“Tell him I said hi, I should head back to the office,” she said.  
“You work too hard, Miss Potts,” Tony said, and Pepper gave him a look.  
“Someone has to, Mr. Stark,” she replied wryly, then she nodded at Natasha and Lucia before she left.  
“Resident thunder god?” Lucia asked, blinking.  
“Um...” Tony shrugged, and Lucia rolled her eyes then took her bags to her room, Tony and Natasha followed and headed to the common room, Lucia wasn't far behind obviously having dropped off her bags and now in search for her daughter.  
She found her, in the hands of a large blond man who was looking somewhat startled to find a human that easily fit in the size of his palm in his care, but Clint was nearby, grinning.  
“She's so freaking tiny compared to you,” he was saying, “Say hi to your uncle, baby girl,” he cooed just as Lucia stepped in his line of sight. “Oh, back already?” he asked.  
“Um...yes, who...is this?” she asked and Thor turned to her, careful of the babe in his hand, his blue eyes light up like the 4th of July at the sight of her.  
“Br-oh um, yes, hello,” he said, catching himself, and Lucia stared at him, wide eyed for a full minute, before suddenly she smiled.  
“Thor,” she said, and Tony pointed at her and mumbled, “Robot recognition programming! I'm telling you!” to Bruce who rolled his eyes.  
“Ah, Sister,” the man tried and she kept smiling, his shoulders relaxed, he held the baby close to his heart.  
“She is so small, but sweet,” he said, and Lucia hummed.  
“Yes, absolutely nothing like you,” she said sweetly, but Thor laughed, it was a little loud and woke the infant, causing her to mewl softly, Lucia took her back with a roll of her eyes.  
“How are you doing, sister?” he asked and she blinked.  
“Fine, why? Is there something wrong?” she asked, and Thor shook his head.  
“No, no, it's my job as your brother to be concerned for your well being!” he said and she snorted but smiled.  
“I'm fine, we both are,” she said and then cooed at the baby, kissing her face, Thor looked thoroughly relieved, smiling at them.  
“And is Mr. Barton treating you right?” he asked after a moment.  
“Wait what?” Clint spluttered.  
“Th-Thor!” the woman squeaked her face bright red, “That's not-! There's-! That is none of your business!”  
“But...he is the father of your child, and it is obvious you both desire one another, surely there is something?” the blond asked, looking confused.  
“You're an idiot,” Lucia glared at him, her face was brighter than Thor's cape which was slung over the couch, she huffed and marched off, she needed to feed the baby and she wasn't about to do that in front of her brother.  
“I do not understand,” Thor blinked, “Do you not have feelings for my sister, Agent Barton?”  
“I-! That's-! I think I forgot to turn the-” the rest was an incoherent grumble and Clint was gone. Tony stepped up and clapped Thor on the bicep.  
“That would be a yes on both parts, Lucia's been crushing on the man since the moment she comprehended him, Clint's been a bit slower, but it's definitely there now, I think he was totally turned on by her going Mama Viking on those ladies in the store, can't deny I felt a little tingle myself. So...it'll happen, probably...right?” he looked at Natasha who knew Clint best. She frowned.  
“I...doubt it,” she said, “Unless there are some actions taken, he isn't really the type to move on his feelings...well, of the more sensitive nature, if it's in his pants then yeah, he most definitely would,” she shrugged, “I think if given the chance, Lucia would make the first move, we just have to give them that situation.”  
Tony's eyebrows arched, “What are you planning?” and the woman's eyes glinted.  
“Nothing terrible,” she replied.  
“Am I correct to assume you are trying to...push Mr. Barton and my sister into a relation?” Thor asked, and the other two nodded.  
“I am not getting involved,” Bruce sighed leaving, “And I'm telling Steve not to either,” he added for good measure.  
Tony rolled his eyes, “Spoil sport,” he called after him, then turned to the blond, “Haven't you done things like that?”  
“Oh most definitely, but it was usually Loki who was planning the push,” he said and Tony laughed.  
“I am completely unsurprised, but this is me, and the Black Widow you have here, we got this, what's your plan, Nat?” he asked, and Natasha glared at him.  
“Don't call me that, and we are going to go about this simply,” she said, her lips quirking up.  
~  
Lucia entered the bedroom and frowned, there wasn't anything 'special' waiting on the bed, Tony was such an ass sometimes, she turned to leave but Clint was just stepping into the bedroom.  
“Oh, um, hi, did you need something?” she asked and Clint blinked.  
“No? Natasha told me you needed to talk to me,” he said, “She took the baby-...wait,” he muttered and then turned to the door, but it was too late. It was locked.  
“Those bastards,” he muttered.  
“We're locked in...why?” Lucia asked, and Clint coughed.  
“Um...to talk, I'd assume,” he said and the woman blinked a few times before she comprehended what was really going.  
“Those assholes!” she cried and Clint couldn't help but grin, she was so cute when she swore, the thought made him flush.  
“Yeah...well...um...we don't have to-” he started and Lucia turned to him and he snapped his mouth closed, her eyes were fierce.  
“They want us to talk huh? Well they're not going to get that,” she said and then took a deep breath, “Right,” she said and then she stepped right up to him and kissed him, full on lips and tongue, Clint was a bit shocked.  
She pulled away, now looking a bit hesitant, “I-is that okay...?” she asked, and Clint had to take a deep breath then another before answering.  
“Yeah...as long as it makes you happy...it's definitely okay,” he said, and she smiled, her fingertips playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.  
“It does,” she replied softly and Clint nodded.  
“Then it is definitely, one hundred percent okay,” he replied and then she was kissing him again, his arms wrapped around her waist and pulling her body flush against his, deepening the kiss.  
They were now too engrossed with each other to even care that they were probably being watched, their friends had given them the golden opportunity, the baby was being watched and they were locked in a room, Lucia would not be a fool to not take advantage of this, and Clint would not be an idiot to enjoy the ride.  
“Well...that...was a fast talk,” Tony muttered, “Hu- woah how the hell is she-Hey!”  
“That is quite enough Man of Iron, you will leave my sister and Agent Barton to their private acts,” Thor said, having managed to find the off button. Though Tony would be able to watch it later...if he really wanted to.  
“Well yeah, but-” Thor held up a hand.  
“My Brother has suffered much strife through time, I am pleased to see such sincere smiles on that face again, and if it is brought by Agent Barton and her child, I will do all I can to keep her happiness, we all deserve second chances, I will not let anyone ruin hers,” Thor said and Tony sighed.  
“Alright, alright, you're right, we all deserve second chances,” he agreed quietly. “Though not all of us had to accidentally get pregnant to get those.”  
“Yes, well, my brother was never one for simple means,” Thor replied, “You do not want to hear about the horse I am sure.”  
“Wait...what?”  
There was a quiet burble from the baby in Natasha's arms, and Thor beamed at her, taking her in his hands.  
“Perhaps you will someday meet your half brother, and he will let you ride him,” Thor said walking away.  
“Ride- oh hell no! There are no horses in my penthouse! Thor! You get back here!”  
Natasha sighed, and then turned the feed back on, Clint and Lucia weren't kissing anymore, instead they just stood in an embrace, both smiling and seeming completely content with the world.  
She smiled too, she was glad to see her friend like that. She knew he's always wanted something more, but she couldn't really provide, and he was aware, he never asked. They had been together before, but not to the same extent as this.  
Natasha was happy for Clint and hoped that everything worked out with them, besides, Natasha also knew he'd had a goal of having an army of archer children, honestly.  
If Loki could actually handle him.  
More power to her.  
~  
Epilogue  
“That's right, pull back and breath....now...release!”  
THWACK!  
“I missed...” the little girl pouted, looking at the arrow in the target, it wasn't dead center, it was about two inches off.  
“You'll get there baby girl, don't worry! Just don't tell mommy I let you use my bow okay?” he added in a whisper, the girl giggled and nodded, making her blond pigtails bounce.  
“Too late, mommy already knows,” a voice said from behind them, Clint whipped around and smiled.  
“Sweetheart!” Lucia held her finger out to him then turned to her daughter.  
“Eria, sweetie, Grandma is coming soon, I need you to go clean up, okay?” she said and the little girls bit her lip.  
“Daddy's not in trouble is he?” she asked and her mother rolled her eyes.  
“No, now go on, we'll be up in a few minutes,” she said and they watched as the little girl scampered off.  
“I am in trouble, aren't I?” Clint asked with a matching pout, Lucia rolled her eyes again but sighed, putting a hand on her protruding belly.  
“Not yet, the moment she gets hurt, I may rip your arms off, but not yet, though I would prefer self defense before archery,” she said, practically.  
“Hey, that's your job, throwing people out of windows is an art that's hard to teach,” he said grinning and she snorted, stepping forward.  
“Just because I did that once- and I can't even remember doing it- doesn't mean it's a cure all,” she said pressing herself against him.  
“But it's still great every time you threaten to do it to Tony, that's just priceless,” he laughed, she smiled despite herself, “How's the boy?” he asked placing his hand on her stomach.  
“So sure it's a boy?” she asked, and Clint grinned.  
“Hey, I've got a great eye,” he replied, kissing her cheek making her laugh.  
“You sure do, and you're still a good man. If given another second chance...I'd still choose you,” she said and he cupped her cheek, and kissed her gently on the mouth.  
“That's something I think I'd strangely be okay with, you know for snagging me an amnesiac super villain,” he added, she poked him in the ribs.  
“Idiot, come on, my mother is probably here, I can't wait to hear her berating you for giving your five year old daughter archery lessons,” she said and Clint groaned.  
But they left the range hand in hand and smiling.  
They chose well.

**Author's Note:**

> So this ended up being about ten times longer than I intended it to be. So some parts are pretty rushed because I wanted to finish it. There were a lot of just BAM! ideas thrown in to make it what it is, I know a lot of it is kind of messy and redundant and some of it doesn't make sense, but overall I am satisfied enough with the end product.  
> If you have any questions, comments, feedback, anything, feel free to give me a holler!  
> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
